Mitchell Park cleaner Wayne Locke faces Ballarat County Court for sexual assault

A Mitchell Park cleaner has been sentenced after he threw an axe at his son when confronted for sexually assaulting a teenager.

Ballarat man Wayne Locke has faced County Court over a charge of sexual assault. Picture: File

A Ballarat cleaner who sexually assaulted a teenager five times over about two years and threw an axe at his own son when confronted has been sentenced to prison.

Wayne Locke, 53, appeared at Ballarat County Court on on June 17, having earlier pleaded guilty to a rolled-up charge of sexual assault involving five incidents of offending.

The court heard the now-fired cleaner from Mitchell Park sexually assaulted a teen between 2017 and 2020.

In one instance, Locke pulled the 17-year-old victim into a room and tried to pull down her pants, telling her they were “just mucking around” and that “no one has to know”.

On several occasions, Locke slapped her buttocks, resulting in his son punching him in the face and Locke throwing an axe at him in return.

At another point, Locke was dragged away from the victim after he pulled her pants down and touched her genitalia, saying to another person present: “We should take her pants off and do stuff to her.”

She told the court in a statement that she felt isolated and feared Locke would hurt her again.

She described feelings of heightened anxiety and trouble sleeping.

On Monday, Locke was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment to be followed by a 12-month community correction order.